Certifiably Insane
by Clear Skydancer
Summary: What does it take to be a counsellor at Camp Kabuto ? That's easy. You have to completely, utterly, insane. Companion piece to Keeping Up With The Kabutopians that focuses primarily on the counsellors. Sadly discontinued due to the original piece no longer existing.
1. Does this count as a prequel ?

**Disclaimer: I do not Pokémon in any way, shape, or form. That honour goes to Game Freak and Nintendo. **_  
_

_I'm regretting this already..._

Lyra sighed, leaning back in her chair set up in the main office of the newly named Camp Kabuto.

As far as offices went, it was rather unimpressive, with almost no decorations or furnishings. There were a couple Rattata themed posters adorned one of the walls, and a few small desks had been placed in the middle.

"This is awesome!" Joey said, spinning around in the small black swivel chair he'd gotten for himself.

Lyra fought the urge to strangle the beaming boy sitting across from her. She wasn't a violent person. Usually, anyway, but she was almost willing to make an exception for Joey. Just because he was oh-so special. "Have you found anyone yet?" She asked, doing an admirable job of not shouting.

"Nope," Joey said brightly, doing another happy spin, almost dislodging that blue hat he always wore. "Rattata's helping me do it."

The aforementioned Rattata was unsuccessfully trying to use Joey's Pokégear. It was an interesting sight to see, as in order to get around his lack of opposable thumbs, he was trying to push the buttons with his nose.

"Isn't he amazing?"

"Yes. Amazing," Lyra managed to get out. "How about you take over for him, we wouldn't want him to... overexert himself,"

"You're right!" Joey cried, snatching the Pokégear way, almost knocking his poor Rattata off the table. "You rest, ok buddy?"

Both Lyra and the Rattata rolled their eyes, after the later had picked himself up, muttering something that was likely not child friendly in poké-speak. The former glanced out of the room's only window, wishing to be anywhere but there.

"Let's see..." Joey began, scrolling through names. "Doesn't answer, doesn't answer, doesn't answer, smells funny, doesn't answer, doesn't answer..."

"Ah-ha! These ones will do it, I know it!" He said, triumphant. He leaned across the desk so he could hold the device up to Lyra. "Ever meet these two?"

"...Yes, actually..." Lyra replied, surprised. "I have met them,"  
_If I remember correctly, they're crazy..._

"Awesome! I'm calling them!" Joey said, eagerly dialing the unsuspecting person's number. Crazy enough to tolerate Joey...

"Hey, Riley? It's Joey. Remember me?"  
_I hope..._

* * *

It was a beautiful morning in Ilex forest. The bird Pokémon were singing, the sun was shining, and every living thing was enjoying the peaceful sounds of nature.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

A very sleepy teen yawned as he picked up his ringing Pokégear.

"Hello ?"

"Hey, Riley? It's Joey. Remember me?"

"The one with the Rattata that's in the top percent of all Rattata?" Riley asked, wondering for the hundredth time why he hadn't deleted that number.

"You remembered. That's great! I really appreciate it when people take the time to remember the awesomeness that is my Rattata. Just the other day I -"  
Riley yawned as Joey gushed about how awesome his Rattata was, and started to get ready for the day. "Is there a reason you called?"

"What? Oh yeah. I'm the new director of Camp Kabuto, and I need some staff and counselors. You'll be a counselor, right?"

The green eyed teen paused in what he was doing, which was trying to get his Mightyena off of his sleeping bag. "You need me to be a counselor at a children's camp?"

"Yeah!" The voice from his phone got even louder, causing him to wince and hold the phone further away from his head.

"Will anyone else I know be there?"

"Uhhh, no. Nope. Nobody. Total strangers." Joey's reply came a little too quickly for Riley's liking.

"Uh huh. I'll see you there."

"Great! Now all I have to do is call..." The voice faded out as Joey began muttering to himself at high speed.

"Joey? Joey...? Aaaaaaaaaaand he's gone" Riley addressed his snoozing Mightyena. He gathered up the rest of his things and got ready to head out.

"Ifrit, Pixie, Antoinette. Let's go." He called off into the forest, waiting for the rest of his errant Pokémon to show up. He looked at the Mightyena standing by his feet.

"Am I to guess the only reason you're still here is because you couldn't be bothered to take more than five steps?"

The Mightyena considered this, then nodded and let out another yawn.

"Thought so. C'mon Shade, the others will find us... eventually."

Ilex forest was a remarkably beautiful place in the morning. A few golden rays of sunshine managed to peek through gaps in the treetops, and there were a few first evolution bug Pokémon already scurrying around. No sign of the early Pidgies, but they'd likely be out and about soon.

_I never did appreciate it much..._ Riley thought, knowing he would miss the peace and quiet of the forest.

The duo didn't make it very far before an Arcanine, a Gengar, and a Pinsir joined them.

"There you guys are. I just got a call from Joey, you remember him right? Short, wears yellow, has a Rattata-" His explanation was cut short by the Gengar laughing, the Pinsir shaking its head, and the Arcanine looking sympathetic.

"Looks like you do. Anyway, we're going to be working as counselors at a camp for him. It's going to be great!" As he started walking again, he noticed that his Gengar was still laughing. His normally lazy Mightyena also wore a small smile.

Riley narrowed his eyes. "Pixie, what's so funny?"

His Arcanine dug through the bags it had on its side, before pulling out a small mirror.

"Thanks 'Frit. What's this for?" The teen looked in the mirror to find that his normally blonde hair had been dyed a shocking shade of purple. A shade that matched his Gengar perfectly.

For the second time that morning, the birds would be disturbed by a loud sound. The sound of an indignant teenager, and his hysteric Gengar.

"PIXIE!"

* * *

"Awesome, see you there," Lyra hung up her phone, a satisfied smile on her face. She turned to look at Joey, who had resumed his earlier chair spinning. "You given up already?" She asked, smile fading.

"No! I'm just taking a break," Joey replied once he'd stopped, hat askew. "I've gotten tons of people. How many did you get?"

"Three," Lyra said flatly, not really believing Joey's numbers. "And I also managed to find someone who was willing to put up some flyers for us. You know, so that people would actually know about the camp."

"I was going to do that,"  
Lyra's response was a raised eyebrow. Did he really expect her to believe that?

Joey squirmed in his chair under Lyra's gaze, before finally coming clean.  
"Ok, fine, I didn't do it, just stop the stare," he said, shivering. And he thought that Mean Look was exclusive to Pokémon.

"How many people did you actually find?" Lyra asked, keeping the look going strong. She couldn't remember where she'd picked up that trick, but it was sure useful at times.

As if reading the mood, the lights overhead flickered a few times, throwing some shadows across Lyra's face.

"...One..." Joey admitted, looking everywhere but at Lyra.

"One?" Lyra asked, incredulous. "It's been... what... three hours?"

"Two and a half," Joey said defensively, fixing his hat. "And I was working hard the whole time!"

"..."

"Okay fine, Rattata was!"

"..."

"Alright, I phoned one guy and then goofed off, stop with the staaaaaare," Joey whined, unable to take it anymore.

"Call. Someone. Now." Lyra said, almost at the end of her patience.

"I will, I will," Joey promised, picking up his Pokégear, and dialing a second number.

Lyra just sighed, turning back to the pile of papers on her desk, trying to tune out Joey, and trying to resist the urge to introduce the desk to her face.

She put up a valiant effort, but after ten minutes of Joey talking about his Rattata to whoever he'd called, and not the camp, she gave the desk her first face high five.

_What did I do to deserve this?_

* * *

Normally, most people are upset when they lose a Pokémon battle. Tori, on the other hand, was upset that her opponent had nothing to say after his defeat.

"Nothing, no tears, no "Wow, I stood no chance against you're awesome might", no breakdown into the fetal position, abso-freaking-lutely NOTHING!"

Her opponent, an ace trainer, had only said "meh", handed over the victory money, then continued on his way.

Tori kicked at a rock on the edge of the dirt path she was walking down, sending it skittering into the bushes nearby.

"I mean, really. Is it that hard to let someone who totally TROUNCED you that-" Her rant was cut short by the piercing sound of her Pokégear ringing.

Tori picked up the wailing device and checked the caller ID.

"... It's Joey... again...who wants to talk to him this time?" She turned to her Pokémon, only to find that her Arcanine and Houndoom had vanished, her Heracross had attempted to be a Doduo and was currently sticking his horn in the ground. Her Alakazam was the only one within arm's reach, wearing an expression that clearly said Make me talk to him again and I WILL shove my spoons down your throat.

She answered her Pokégear. "Hello?"

"Hey Tori, it's Joey. Remember me?"

Tori glanced around the immediate area, and aside from her two remaining Pokémon, found nothing but trees and bushes.

_Kal it is..._

"You bet I do! Say, wanna talk to my Alakazam? I think he really enjoyed hearing about your Rattata last time you called."

"He did? I'd love to talk him about my darling Rattata! Why, just the other day he-" Tori took the phone away from her ear, and handed it to her (very annoyed) Alakazam.

"Here ya' go, Kal. I know how much you love talking to Joey." She said with a smile.

Kal made a face that promised much suffering and held the device to his ear.

"-and then he was all covered in gravel bits and dust. Amazing, right?"

"Kazam."

"I know, and then he -" And so went another fifteen minutes of Rattata related conversation, punctuated by the occasional 'Zam' of agreement.

"Ah, good times. Thanks Kal, can you give me back to your trainer? I have something I need to ask her." For Kalamedea, it was as if Delibird had come early. Wearing a face that clearly said 'KAAAAAARMA' he handed the Pokégear back to his (looking increasingly agitated) trainer.

"H-Hey Joey, what did you want to talk about?"  
Please don't be Rattata, please don't be Rattata, please don't be Rattata...

"Well, I wanted to talk about my Rattata, but your Alakazam and I had a great conversation just now."  
Yes!

"So... what do you want?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! I was calling because I'm running a new camp called "Camp Kabuto", and I need some counselors. "

"Camp... Kabuto?"

"I know, I wanted to call it Camp Rattata, but Lyra wouldn't have it. Anyway, I need you to be a counselor. You'll do it right? Pleasepleaseplease,"

Tori sighed. "Well... I don't know..."

"Aww c'mon. You get paid, fed, Riley's going to be there, you can meet new people-"

"Wait, hold on a sec. I get paid to tort- err... supervise some kiddies, AND I get to beat Riley at being a counselor?"

"Well, yes, but -"

"I'll be right there,"

"Really? Great!" There was a pause at the other end. "Now that we have that outta the way... wanna talk about my Rattata?"

_...Crap_

"Nopegottagoseeyatherebye," Tori hung up as fast as she could. "Ok guys, change of plans. Instead of going back to Saffron so we can wipe the floor with Ol' Sabrina again, we're going to camp," She turned to see her Arcanine and Houndoom had rejoined the group, and were currently trying to pry Uni from the ground.

The blue eyed teen sighed, before turning to her Alakazam. "Mind helping them out?"

Kal considered it for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Didn't think so. C'mon Sala, Cer. Uni will be able to get out... eventually" With that, she started heading towards the nearest city.

Uni started to panic, arms and legs flailing, accomplishing nothing.

"Ugh, Kal?"

Without looking back, Kal pointed one of his spoons at the frantic bug-fighting type, surrounding him with a blue glow.

*POP *

The bug came free, but Kal kept carrying him, and would continue to do so until they reached civilization.

This'll be fun Tori thought as she walked with her Pokémon. Where is this camp anyway? She looked down at her Pokégear to see a video icon in her messages. _Here goes..._

"Hey, I forgot to tell you where the camp is, so I've included a map at the end of this documentary about Rattatas. No need to thank me, thank your Alakazam. I figured that if he enjoyed our chat so much, you would as well."

The black haired teen was silent... Until "DARN IT KAL!" and the soft chuckle of an Alakazam were the only sounds to be heard.

* * *

**Well, there we go. First Fanfiction. *Confetti* **

**I'd like to thank Sunbean for letting me write a this alongside Keeping Up With The Kabutopians. You should go check that out.**

**Now.**

**This makes much more sense if you do.**

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**In a similar vein, check out Sunbean's Forum of Wonder and Excitement. Completely random, with some fic discussions and RP's thrown in.**

**By the way, those two forums are both Pokémon forums, just so we're all clear.**

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**You should use it. It's good for you.**


	2. Alternate continuity, perhaps ?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, etcetera, etcetera.**

* * *

_I'm going to miss this place..._ Riley looked over his shoulder, back towards the inner reaches of Ilex forest. It was too early for most of the forest pokémon, but a few first evolution bugs could be seen feasting in the trees. No doubt trying to get a meal in before the Pidgy and Spearow were out and about.

_It was so calm, so serene, so-_

The teen was interrupted from his musings courtesy of a Caterpie mistaking his now vibrant purple hair for an enemy. With a battle cry that was likely unimpressive even in Pokéspeak, it launched itself towards him. Its efforts were rewarded by startling the lavender-haired trainer, and giving him a face-full of String Shot.

_Good feelings gone._

Wiping his face with some of the numerous leaves littering the surrounding area, he turned to leave. The Caterpie had already scurried off into the forest, not wanting to be captured. Lots of the bravery it had possessed was lost once it realized it had attacked a trainer.

"Didn't even find what I was looking for," He muttered, starting off towards the next city. He hadn't expected to find much, maybe a few hints here and there. Finding nothing was seriously frustrating for him, though. He would have much preferred to spend more time searching in the forest, but he'd promised Joey, so off to camp it was.

_At least this couldn't get much worse._

The universe, as it turns out, can be quite malicious, as it started raining the moment Riley finished his thought. Within seconds, he was drenched, water cascading down all around him.

As it turned out, the hair dye his Gengar had managed to find was waterproof.

_..._ Riley tried to keep himself from swearing.

He failed.

* * *

"You know, I don't know why you were so angry earlier," Joey remarked, feeding Rattata a Pokéblock. Ever since the foreign treat had been introduced to Johto, the young trainer had been sure to be well stocked. After all, they were good for Rattata, it said so on the package. If there was one thing Joey had learned in all of his years of living, it was to always trust the package.

"I mean, sure the start was a little slow, but we've got loads of people now,"

Lyra once again fought the urge to wring Joey's neck. It was an admirable feat, really, seeing how small and easily strangle-able Joey's neck was. But it simply would not do for the champion of a region to be caught strangling a young child, so Joey's neck remained un-strangled.

"The reason I was mad," Lyra began slowly, letting out a deep breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. "... was because we have just over a week before campers start arriving, and not one staff member has shown up yet, and the ones I found won't be here for another couple days,"

She paused, letting Joey digest what she was saying, before continuing. "Not to mention the fact you've contacted... how many people directly, again ?"

"...A few..." Joey admitted, eyes not willing to try and endure The Stare. The Stare deserving capitals in his mind, for such horror deserved special mention, even in his own mind.

"Right, and how many responded to the flyers ?" Lyra went on, raising an eyebrow.

"... A few more..." How was it possible that he could feel The Stare through his hat ? What sort of unholy powers did Lyra possess ? And could he teach it to Rattata ? Just imagine, having a Rattata with super-vision. Why, nothing could compare. Forget top percent of all Rattata, it would be the top percent of all po-

"JOEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME ?!" Lyra roared, eye twitching dangerously.

"THE TOP PRECENT I SAY!" Joey fired back, standing up and knocking his chair back.

"...I mean, yes, yes I am..." Joey trailed off, realizing how very screwed he was. Curse him for falling into the awesomeness of his Rattata. It wasn't Rattata's fault though, it could never be Rattata's fault. Shame on him for even considering that horrible non-possibility. Right then and there, Youngster Joey made a decision, as soon as Lyra was done babbling, he'd go to his room, grab his Rattata tapes, and re-learn the ways of the Ratta-

"JOEY!"

"... I'm in biiiiig trouble, aren't I ?"

He was.

* * *

"Mommy, what's wrong with that boy's hair ?"

Riley gritted his teeth, promising for the umpteenth time that day to somehow get back at his Gengar. If the dye had remained until he reached the daycare centre, he would've been ok with that. He'd even be ok if it had at least _faded_ somewhat before he reached Goldenrod. But no, he couldn't have that. If anything, his hair had turned even _more_ purple during the time it took to get from Ilex Forest to Goldenrod.

And so there he was in the department store. Not so that he could stock up on Pokéballs or potions or other travelling essentials. No, he had plenty of supplies. The reason the teen felt a need to visit Goldenrod was so that he could find some hair dye. A chore he'd been positive his whole life would never become a priority. If he'd been asked earlier where it ranked in his list of things to do, it would've been right between satchel shopping (seriously, he'd seen the photos of that new Unovan prodigy dude. What was up with that, did he have something against regular backpacks ?) and ballroom dancing.

Needless to say, he was not a happy camper, which probably wasn't a good thing, seeing as he was going to be looking after a bunch of those in a rather short amount of time.

"I don't even know what colour my hair was to begin with," He muttered, holding up some bottles of dye. He didn't notice the girl that had spoken earlier eyeing his Arcanine from behind one of the displays. Even though it was a common sight to see pokémon out and about with their trainers, large fire types were not usually the type to be seen indoors.

"What do you think ?" Riley asked, turning to his bored starter, holding up two different bottles.

Ifrit made a face at the first one, and hid his head underneath his paws at the second.

"Yeah, didn't think so," Riley sighed, turning to back to the shelves looming in front of him. _I never thought that this could be so difficult..._ he mused, starting to appreciate exactly how hard it was to find the right shade. _I'll never tease mother about it again, that's for sure. _

Ifrit's ears twitched, signalling that he was aware of his watcher. As the fire type turned to get a better look, all he saw was the flash of a blue sundress disappearing behind a large Gary-O's stand. Gary-O's being a shameless product trying to ride off of the popularity that came with anything associated to the great Professor Oak's grandson. Gary himself had found the idea hilarious, and went along with it.

"'Frit, come on,"

The Arcanine's head snapped back towards his trainer, to see him moving down the isle, searching for the right colour. Shaking his large head, he followed his trainer, wishing that the shopping trip would just be over soon.

That, or maybe his trainer would let him just burn the offending hair.

* * *

"Ah, Vermillion City. Home to loads of people not as awesome as I am," Tori announced proudly, standing at the city's entrance with her pokémon. She got a few odd looks from people passing bye, but she didn't pay them any mind. Why should she, when she was so much more awesome than they were anyway ?

After taking in the sight of the admittedly grand city, Tori turned to the group. "Ok guys, you know the city rules. Who wants to stay out ?" While the rules regarding pokémon outside of their balls were quite lax out in the countryside, there was still a limit of one pokémon allowed out while in the city, two if they were small like a Plusle or Minun.

Her pokémon seemed to have a short discussion, ending with Kal shaking his head and tapping his pokéball, disappearing with a flash at Tori's waist. Her Houndoom and Arcanine seemed indifferent, with the former curling up to sleep, and the later yawning. Uni seemed pretty happy, flitting about the area, inspecting everything that caught his attention, which was, admittedly, just about everything.

"Ok then," Tori recalled the two canines, before raising an eyebrow at her hyperactive bug. "Having fun ?" She asked, slightly amused.

The Heracross nodded, busily inspecting some rocks near the sign that signified Vermillion City's entrance.

"Well, I'm happy for you, and normally I'd let you finish, but I just wanted to remind you we still have to actually get to the camp," She remarked, her foot making a light tapping sound against the ground. Uni looked mareepish, but still returned to his trainer's side, buzzing dejectedly.

"Lighten up, you'll have plenty of exploring to do at the camp," Tori reminded him, leading the way into the city.

Uni brightened up at that thought, and followed his trainer towards the docks.

* * *

"And remember, try to have fun," A large man wearing a suit said, unloading some luggage from a large Unovan vessel. It was much too large be called a simple yacht, but it didn't possess the massive bulk required to be classed as a cruise ship.

"Don't worry, Charles, I will," His companion said, sighing as he accepted the luggage.

"And be safe, master Dawson," The first one said.

"I will be safe, I can assure you," The second one replied, a young adult in his own right. "I will be taking care of some children at a camp, what sort of dangers could I possibly face ?"

"You never know," Charles said with a small smile, stepping back onto the boat. "You might get stuck with a bunch of crazies," He started the engine, and guided the boat away from the harbour, with only a small wave as a final goodbye.

The now alone young man scoffed, a blue gem attached to his black leather jacket gleaming as it caught the light of the midday Kanto sun. "What are the chances of _that ?_"

* * *

"This is impossible !" Riley moaned, leaning against a support pillar inside the department store. "I'll be here _forever,_"

Ifrit made a questioning sound, tilting his head at his trainer. He never did understand why his trainer acted like that. From what he had gleaned from other Pokémon, this wasn't considered to be normal human behaviour.

"Foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr," Riley whispered, a haunted look in his eyes.

A few rows away, a muffled giggle came from behind a display of Oran Juice.

Ifrit snorted, a few small tongues of flame escaping his nostrils. The flame continued to dance on a carton of Razz-berry juice for a few seconds, though it went out before any serious damage was done.

"You don't get it," Riley informed the Arcanine. "We've been here for ages, and the closest thing we've found to a regular hair colour is aqua silver," He paused, no doubt trying to let it sink in for his companion. A rather pointless thing to do, seeing as his Arcanine seemed smarter than his trainer at times. "Aqua. Silver. Know what that sounds like ? Grey. Know what that looks like ? Grey. Know what my hair is ? Purple. Know wha-" His rant was cut off by loud peals of laughter coming from nearby.

"What's so funny ?" He asked, a bit miffed. Both at the fact that he couldn't see who was laughing at him, but also the fact that someone had heard his outburst.

"You're in the cosplay section," A slightly older girl giggled, skipping up to the pair. She took a red lollipop, likely cherry, out her mouth, and seemed to size up the two. "You don't, like, look like the kind that's usually into that sorta stuff, so I'm guessing you got pranked ?" She stuck the lollipop back in, beaming. "I'm right, aren't I ?"

Riley sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, my Gengar got me during my sleep, died my hair purple,"

The girl laughed again, showing a row of perfect white teeth. "Sounds funny,"

"Hilarious," Riley muttered, turning his attention back to the wall of stuff he was quickly coming to hate.

"Sooooooo," His new companion began, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Want me to show you where the real hair dye is ?"

"Or you could like, stay here with the weird stuff. That works too, I guess,"

"...Yes please," Riley admitted, mentally kicking himself for searching in the area he'd just been told didn't have what he was looking for.

"It's this way," The girl said, leading him to a different part of the store, a bounce in her step. "I'm Cherry, by the way. Cherrygrove, not the berry. Then I'd be Cheri, but I'm not that kind of Cheri," Cherry kept babbling as she walked away, oblivious to the look of disdain on Riley's face.

_This is going to be a looooooooong day... Riley_ thought, following after.

* * *

While Lester had not encountered any crazies between the spot where he'd been dropped off and the boarding area for the Johto bound Ferry, he had run into some very... odd people, to say the least.

What is it with this region and Pokémon popping out everywhere ? The unova native thought to himself, approaching the bulletin that showed arrival and departure times. It wasn't that he had a problem with Pokémon out and about, it was just a strange sight for him.

He was interrupted in his musings by a loud voice coming from behind him.

"Not that the sign isn't a marvel of modern technology, but could ya admire it from somewhere not in the way of everybody ?"

Lester rolled his eyes, before turning to regard whoever had spoken. His efforts rewarded him with a view of a girl slightly shorter than he was, standing a few feet away with a teasing look on her face. A large Bug type buzzed around her, inspecting almost everything that caught its eye. It didn't seem that interested in Lester, which he was thankful for. Not that he hated Bug types, it was just that the Bugs outside of Unova were so... odd.

"I'm not in the way of everybody, just you,"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Touché, but you're still in the way,"

Lester's eye's once again became reacquainted with the sky. Nevertheless, he moved aside so his tormentor could read the sign.

"Ugh," She said to her companion. "We're not getting there until almost nine tonight,"

The Heracross buzzed sadly, its head drooping.

"Seven-thirty," Lester corrected.

"Hm ?"

"Seven thirty, it says it right there," He pointed to where the times of arrival were posted. "Plain as day..." He added under his breath.

The girl looked at her Pokémon, and they both started laughing, or buzzing, in the case of the Heracross.

"Oh, that's cute, you think we'll arrive on schedule,"

"Of course we will, that's why it's posted," Lester retorted, feeling himself growing quite annoyed.

"You have soooooo much to learn about the state of public transportation, my dear," The irksome girl replied, the sign creaking as she leaned against it.

"I have nothing to learn," Lester insisted. "If they posted seven-thirty, we should arrive at seven-thirty. It is no fault of mine if we don't get there on time,"

"Care to make a bet ?" The girl asked, a mischievous smile forming.

"No, but if it will get you to stop bugging me, I suppose I may as well oblige," Lester said, glaring daggers.

"Wonderful, I'll meet you at the front of the boat once we get there," The girl straightened up, turning to leave.

"Wait, we haven't decided the stakes yet," Lester reminded her.

"Oh, we'll get to that after," She said, walking away. "Unless you're afraid you're going to lose," She added over her shoulder.

"Of course not," Lester called after her. "I will need you're name, though. It wouldn't do to collect from some stranger,"

The girl stopped on the ramp, tuning back to look at him. "The name's Tori," She said with a grin. "Et tu ?"

"Lester,"

"Well, Lester, it seems that there's only one thing left to do," Tori said, grinning.

"And that is ?" Lester asked, though he was eager to be rid of her.

"Start praying I'm merciful, because I'm winning this bet," She said, her grin changing to a smirk.

"Although, being perfectly honest: I'm never merciful,"

With that, she turned around and boarded the ship.

Lester rolled his eyes again. Who did she think she was, challenging him to a bet like that ? It didn't matter, there was no way that she could be right, while he was wrong.

Right ?

* * *

**Welp, there's chapter two. It only took me just over two months, which is much shorter than the first one took :D**

**Who knows, I may even be able to do monthly updates eventually ~**

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**Until next time,**

**Sky ~**


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